Bassmaster Crew Hammers Bass At Lake El Salto

The good folks who produce Bassmaster Magazine just don’t write about fishing---they get out there and do it! We had several Bassmaster staff members as our guests at Anglers Inn recently. Here’s what they had to say about their Lake El Salto fishing.

James B. Hall, editor of Bassmaster magazine: “With the lake being quite low, I was worried that the fishing might suffer. After leaving our first spot with 17 bass up to 7-pounds after no more than 20 casts, I knew my worries were unfounded. All of those fish were caught on a Fat Free Shad by quickly reeling down a secondary point, then pausing. The most successful day (82 fish in the morning, 31 in the afternoon) of the trip came by way of a 7-inch YUM Zellmander and 10-inch Berkley Power Worm (both watermelon & red flake) pitched and flipped to the base of standing timber in shallow water. Small clumps of trees that featured multiple 2-inch-diameter trees were more fruitful than the large trees for both numbers and size of fish. Regardless of the type of timber fished, dragging a bait through the branches was key to getting strikes.

Curiously, adding a glass bead between the bullet weight and hook seemed to increase the number of strikes we were getting on a Texas rig. My largest bass of the trip, an 8-pound, 6-ouncer, was caught on a heavy spinnerbait fished in 8-feet of water. Since the winds pick up in the afternoon, it is imperative to bring heavy lead for Texas rigging and ¾ to 1-ounce spinnerbaits. Several large fish up to 8 pounds were caught on Super Spooks early in the morning. Before packing up, my group tallied no less than six fish estimated in the double digits that were lost at boatside. I can't wait for a rematch!”

Chris Horton, BASS/ESPN Associate Director of Conservation: “Boiling it down, my best luck was on spinnerbaits early and late, on the inside of the timber and shallow. With the sun high, ¾-ounce Texas rigged 10-inch Berkley Power Worms in black & blue or watermelon & red fleck worked best for me. Watermelon red seemed to be the best color for the clearer water, with black & blue the best choice in dingy water when pitched near the base of trees. The smallest number of fish per day for my boat was 34, with the highest number around 84. Our average number of fish per day was around 48 to 50.”

Stacy S. Twiggs, Senior Manager BASS/ESPN National Youth Federation: “In the morning before winds picked up we fished inside heavy timber lines and brushy open water islands. It was mostly stained and turbid water from afternoon winds, but they were full of baitfish. While water was calm, fish were suspended in the middle or at the base of brush. A slow presentation worked best to trigger more strikes until winds started to create current through timber fields. Fish between 2 and 9-pounds were caught on baby bass or white Lucky Craft Suspending Pointers 100 MR; Texas rigged 10-inch white, glimmer white Baby Bass Senkos and Yum Dingers; ½-ounce black neon and white Booyah Swim’n Jigs with YUM 3 ½-inch Wounded Pumpkin chunk trailers and 10-inch junebug, blue fleck and black & blue Berkley Power Worms. 

“One morning James Hall and I boated 82 fish between 1 and 6-pounds on ½ oz. Texas rigged white 10-inch Senkos or white & silver flake Dingers and YUM 7-inch watermelon & red Zellamanders. We used 7-foot Loomis Heavy Rods, Shimano Chronarch 100/SF 6.2:1 reels, 20-30-pound XPS Fluorocarbon line and ½ to ¾-ounce XPS tungsten weights that are a lot louder and much harder than lead, making it easier to detect a strike or upcoming brush. We also used 5/0 Owner offset wide gap hooks and 5/0 Gamakatsu SuperLine offset EWG Hooks.

“In the afternoon with high winds we fished ditches, steep points, timber-lined creek channels or 5 to 10-foot flats next to deep river channels. The fish were all relatively shallow, but with adjacent deep water nearby. Our best fish came from beside large standing timber and while casting into channels retrieving toward shallow flats. We also caught fish slow rolling and fluttering ½ to ¾-ounce chartreuse & white or white, red and green War Eagle spinnerbaits alongside timber or rock edges. We fished ¾ to1-ounce Carolina Rigged watermelon pepper or green pumpkin Lake Fork Ring Fry or ½-ounce Texas Rigged 10-inch black & blue or blue fleck Berkley Power Worms, watermelon red, green pumpkin or motoroil Finesse Worms. We found a huge school of 4 to 8-pound bass all the way in the back of a creek. We made long casts down the creek channels with citrus Fat Free Shad and Lucky Craft Flat CB DR-12 or DR 3-inch ½ & ¾-ounce in aurora black and chartreuse & light blue. Late afternoons were very productive with ½ and ¾ ounce chrome & black or chrome & blue Rat-L-Traps with Mustad Triple Grip treble hooks on windy points. The wind had pushed so many baitfish on the points that I even caught two fish on the same Rat-L-Trap. Chris and I boated approximately 30 to 40 fish on numerous days on the same point up to 5-pounds in size.”

Air Temp: 59°-65°F (Early Morning and late evenings) 85°-90°F (Siesta time)

Water Temp: 70°-76°F

Average number of bass per boat per day: 50-70

Largest bass caught: 11-pounds

Popular lures used this week:

1. Eight inch Zoom or Yum Lizards and 10-inch Berkley Powerworms in watermelon, watermelon red flake, junebug, black with blue tail, blue flake.

2. Gene Lerew “Whodaddy” & Zoom “Brush hog” 6” – Watermelon, Black with Blue, Red Shad, June bug.

3. Yamamoto Senkos, Yum Dingers or Bass Pro Shops 5, 6 & 7-inch Stinkos in watermelon, watermelon red flake, black with blue flake, red shad and white & chartreuse.

4. Spinnerbaits in ½ to 1-ounce in white, white & chartreuse, chartreuse and shad.

5. Bomber Fat Free Shad & Rapala DT16 Crankbaits. Deep divers in citrus shad, fire tiger, white. 

6. Rat-L-Traps in ½ & ¾-ounce in silver with blue back and silver with black back.

7. Rapala X-Rap or 4 to 5-inch jerkbaits in white, clown, perch and shad.

8. Storm WildEye 4 and 5-inch Swim Shads in mullet, golden mullet, bunker and shad.

9. Zara Spook, Cultiva Tango Dancer and Reaction Innovations Vixen in chrome, chrome with black top, white and motor oil color.

10. RicoPop in white, white with sparkles and silver & black.